March 2012

March 31, 2012

A commercial for Syracuse Chiefs Opening Day 2012 features a pair of Washington Nationals phenoms (video below), but obviously, the Chiefs are going to promote the heck out of the one who will be there this year (well, hopefully only one of 'em will be there this year). Even if it is for just a few short weeks, the Chiefs will be selling Bryce Harper early and often. Better milk it while you can, because obviously "Jason Michaels and the 2012 Chiefs" doesn't have the same ring to it!

Meanwhile, we're still waiting for our first glimpse of a "Harpercuse" shirt.

“I’m kind of giving him a crash course in utility. It’d be one thing if I was trying to make him a utility player. I’m not. I’m trying to give him experience at different spots for a need that might come up on the team.” (Davey Johnson, via Washington Times, 3/27/2012)

Actually, it seems like Jamie-Lynn Sigler is done playing the field. All thanks to a certain infielder.

The 30-year-old erstwhile Sopranos star has reportedly been dating Washington Nationals player Cutter Dykstra—all of just 22 years old—for "a few months" now.

Well, one steals bases, the other steals hearts. Sounds like a match to us! So, how'd these two crazy kids meet?

According to Page Six, which was first to cotton on to the coupling, the Los Angeles-based actress met the East Coast player through mutual friends Nick Swisher, who plays for the New York Yankees, and his actress-wife, Joanna Garcia. (via E! Online, 3/28/2012)

Guh. Also: Nick Swisher! Too bad that Nationals-Yankees Swisher-for-Lannan and Flores deal fell through at the last minute a few weeks ago, eh? Swish and his buddy Cutter would be playing for the same organization...

Jayson Werth hit a mammoth home run over the left-field wall. According to Werth, the grounds crew told him the ball hit his truck.

"Right now, it's folklore. I have to go out there and check it out," Werth said. "If it is dented or smashed or cracked or shattered, I kind of foresee it staying that way. We have to see. I think they are just messing with me, but who knows. I'll keep you posted."(via Bill Ladson/Nationals.com)

According to a person who knows stuff and is usually right, this is the same truck Werth was driving earlier this spring when he got into a (very minor) fender bender with Roger Bernadina's Mercedes convertible in a parking lot at Space Coast. Guess it would have been fitting if Shark had dented Werth's truck with a bomb today? Rumor has it Werth also hit a deer with his SUV last summer driving home from a home game.

"His arm is in great shape. I imagine he will probably rest it for two or three days. ... He should be fine to start the season. He is in shape, his arm is in shape. He is not going to have a drop off in a week to 10 days." (Davey Johnson, via Nationals.com, 3/23/2012)

And here's Storen, talking playoffs:

"We expect to be playing in the playoffs. What happens at the end of the year is more important than right now. I think that’s kind of nice, to be able to look at the big picture. You don’t want to cut a corner now and have it come back to bite you when it really matters." (Drew Storen, via Nationals Journal, 3/23/2012)